Scell selection and optimization for telecommunication systems

ABSTRACT

UE-related measurements taken on a Pcell in a wireless communication system are formed into a set of data. The Pcell overlaps with Scell(s). The UE-related measurements on the P cell are for a specific UE in the Pcell. Using a ML algorithm applied to the set of data, achievable channel quality is predicted for the specific UE for each of the Scell(s). The predicted achievable channel qualities are output for the specific UE to be used for Scell selection. At a RAN node, the set of data is sent toward an S cell prediction module for the module to determine information suitable to enable Scell selection for the specific UE. The RAN node receives information from the module allowing the RAN node to inform the selected UE of Scell(s) to be used for Scell selection for the specific UE. A node may train the ML algorithm using UE-related measurements on the Pcell.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to wireless communications and, morespecifically, relates to secondary cell selection in wirelesscommunication systems.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to provide a background or context to theinvention disclosed below. The description herein may include conceptsthat could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have beenpreviously conceived, implemented or described. Therefore, unlessotherwise explicitly indicated herein, what is described in this sectionis not prior art to the description in this application and is notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Abbreviationsthat may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures aredefined below, at the beginning of the detailed description section.

Operators of cellular networks have been undertaking initiatives toenable greater use of open interfaces as well as analytics and machinelearning and real-time analytics in the radio access network (RAN),especially for radio resource management (RRM) functions, in an effortto improve the performance and automation of the network. For example,in the xRAN forum and ORAN alliance, the network architecture employs aRadio Intelligent Controller (RIC) in order to aid in improvingperformance and automation.

The RIC may consist of a near-real-time portion (RIC near-RT) and anon-real-time portion (RIC-non-RT). Both of these might be used formachine learning systems, though the non-RT portion is assumed tooperate over a longer period of time than does the near-RT portion,which is assumed to operate in close to real time.

However, in order to achieve these objectives of performance andautomation for different functions of the RAN, new algorithms andinteractions are needed. The RIC near-RT and RIC non-RT can be viewed asplatforms on which such new functions and algorithms can be hosted.

One application of these is to help the cellular network perform cellselection for user equipment (UE). This is explained in more detailbelow.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This section is intended to include examples and is not intended to belimiting.

In an exemplary embodiment, a method includes forming userequipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in a wirelesscommunication system into a set of data, wherein the primary cell alsooverlaps with one or more secondary cells in the wireless communicationsystem and wherein the user equipment-related measurements on theprimary cell are for a specific user equipment in the primary cell. Themethod includes predicting, using a machine learning algorithm appliedto the set of data, achievable channel quality for the specific userequipment for each of the one or more of the secondary cells. The methodfurther includes outputting at least one of the predicted achievablechannel qualities for the specific user equipment to be used forsecondary cell selection for the specific user equipment.

An additional exemplary embodiment includes a computer program,comprising code for performing the method of the previous paragraph,when the computer program is run on a processor. The computer programaccording to this paragraph, wherein the computer program is a computerprogram product comprising a computer-readable medium bearing computerprogram code embodied therein for use with a computer.

An exemplary apparatus includes one or more processors and one or morememories including computer program code. The one or more memories andthe computer program code are configured to, with the one or moreprocessors, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:forming user equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in awireless communication system into a set of data, wherein the primarycell also overlaps with one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementson the primary cell are for a specific user equipment in the primarycell; predicting, using a machine learning algorithm applied to the setof data, achievable channel quality for the specific user equipment foreach of the one or more of the secondary cells; and outputting at leastone of the predicted achievable channel qualities for the specific userequipment to be used for secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment.

An exemplary computer program product includes a computer-readablestorage medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for usewith a computer. The computer program code includes: code for forminguser equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in awireless communication system into a set of data, wherein the primarycell also overlaps with one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementson the primary cell are for a specific user equipment in the primarycell; code for predicting, using a machine learning algorithm applied tothe set of data, achievable channel quality for the specific userequipment for each of the one or more of the secondary cells; and codefor outputting at least one of the predicted achievable channelqualities for the specific user equipment to be used for secondary cellselection for the specific user equipment.

In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus comprises: means forforming user equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in awireless communication system into a set of data, wherein the primarycell also overlaps with one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementson the primary cell are for a specific user equipment in the primarycell; means for predicting, using a machine learning algorithm appliedto the set of data, achievable channel quality for the specific userequipment for each of the one or more of the secondary cells; and meansfor outputting at least one of the predicted achievable channelqualities for the specific user equipment to be used for secondary cellselection for the specific user equipment.

In an additional exemplary embodiment, a method is disclosed comprisingforming, at a radio access network node, user equipment-relatedmeasurements taken on a primary cell in a wireless communication systeminto a set of data. The primary cell also overlaps with one or moresecondary cells in the wireless communication system and the userequipment-related measurements are for a specific user equipment in theprimary cell. The primary cell is formed by the radio access networknode. The method includes sending the set of data toward a secondarycell prediction module for the secondary cell module to determineinformation suitable to enable secondary cell selection for the specificuser equipment. The method further includes receiving the informationfrom the secondary cell prediction module, the information furtherallowing the radio access network node to inform the selected userequipment of selected at least one of the one or more secondary cells tobe used for secondary cell selection for the specific user equipment.The method includes sending by the radio access network node indicationof the at least one selected secondary cell toward the specific userequipment.

An additional exemplary embodiment includes a computer program,comprising code for performing the method of the previous paragraph,when the computer program is run on a processor. The computer programaccording to this paragraph, wherein the computer program is a computerprogram product comprising a computer-readable medium bearing computerprogram code embodied therein for use with a computer.

An exemplary apparatus includes one or more processors and one or morememories including computer program code. The one or more memories andthe computer program code are configured to, with the one or moreprocessors, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:forming, at a radio access network node, user equipment-relatedmeasurements taken on a primary cell in a wireless communication systeminto a set of data, wherein the primary cell also overlaps with one ormore secondary cells in the wireless communication system, wherein theuser equipment-related measurements are for a specific user equipment inthe primary cell, and wherein the primary cell is formed by the radioaccess network node; sending the set of data toward a secondary cellprediction module for the secondary cell module to determine informationsuitable to enable secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment; receiving the information from the secondary cell predictionmodule, the information further allowing the radio access network nodeto inform the selected user equipment of selected at least one of theone or more secondary cells to be used for secondary cell selection forthe specific user equipment; and sending by the radio access networknode indication of the at least one selected secondary cell toward thespecific user equipment.

An exemplary computer program product includes a computer-readablestorage medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for usewith a computer. The computer program code includes: code for forming,at a radio access network node, user equipment-related measurementstaken on a primary cell in a wireless communication system into a set ofdata, wherein the primary cell also overlaps with one or more secondarycells in the wireless communication system, wherein the userequipment-related measurements are for a specific user equipment in theprimary cell, and wherein the primary cell is formed by the radio accessnetwork node; code for sending the set of data toward a secondary cellprediction module for the secondary cell module to determine informationsuitable to enable secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment; code for receiving the information from the secondary cellprediction module, the information further allowing the radio accessnetwork node to inform the selected user equipment of selected at leastone of the one or more secondary cells to be used for secondary cellselection for the specific user equipment; and code for sending by theradio access network node indication of the at least one selectedsecondary cell toward the specific user equipment.

In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus comprises: means forforming, at a radio access network node, user equipment-relatedmeasurements taken on a primary cell in a wireless communication systeminto a set of data, wherein the primary cell also overlaps with one ormore secondary cells in the wireless communication system, wherein theuser equipment-related measurements are for a specific user equipment inthe primary cell, and wherein the primary cell is formed by the radioaccess network node; means for sending the set of data toward asecondary cell prediction module for the secondary cell module todetermine information suitable to enable secondary cell selection forthe specific user equipment; means for receiving the information fromthe secondary cell prediction module, the information further allowingthe radio access network node to inform the selected user equipment ofselected at least one of the one or more secondary cells to be used forsecondary cell selection for the specific user equipment; and means forsending by the radio access network node indication of the at least oneselected secondary cell toward the specific user equipment.

A further exemplary embodiment is a method, comprising receivingmultiple sets of data. The multiple sets of data comprise userequipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in a wirelesscommunication system and corresponding measurements of channel qualityfor one or more secondary cells. The primary cell overlaps with the oneor more secondary cells in the wireless communication system and whereinthe user equipment-related measurements of the primary cell are for userequipment in the primary cell. The method includes performing trainingof a machine learning algorithm at least by applying the multiple setsof data to the machine learning algorithm, wherein the machine learningalgorithm is configured to output a prediction of achievable channelquality for each of the one or more secondary cells. The method furtherincludes outputting, in response to training being completed on themachine-learning algorithm, information defining the trainedmachine-learning algorithm.

An additional exemplary embodiment includes a computer program,comprising code for performing the method of the previous paragraph,when the computer program is run on a processor. The computer programaccording to this paragraph, wherein the computer program is a computerprogram product comprising a computer-readable medium bearing computerprogram code embodied therein for use with a computer.

An exemplary apparatus includes one or more processors and one or morememories including computer program code. The one or more memories andthe computer program code are configured to, with the one or moreprocessors, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:receiving multiple sets of data, the multiple sets of data comprisinguser equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in awireless communication system and corresponding measurements of channelquality for one or more secondary cells, wherein the primary celloverlaps with the one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementsof the primary cell are for user equipment in the primary cell;performing training of a machine learning algorithm at least by applyingthe multiple sets of data to the machine learning algorithm, wherein themachine learning algorithm is configured to output a prediction ofachievable channel quality for each of the one or more secondary cells;and outputting, in response to training being completed on themachine-learning algorithm, information defining the trainedmachine-learning algorithm.

An exemplary computer program product includes a computer-readablestorage medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for usewith a computer. The computer program code includes: code for receivingmultiple sets of data, the multiple sets of data comprising userequipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in a wirelesscommunication system and corresponding measurements of channel qualityfor one or more secondary cells, wherein the primary cell overlaps withthe one or more secondary cells in the wireless communication system andwherein the user equipment-related measurements of the primary cell arefor user equipment in the primary cell; code for performing training ofa machine learning algorithm at least by applying the multiple sets ofdata to the machine learning algorithm, wherein the machine learningalgorithm is configured to output a prediction of achievable channelquality for each of the one or more secondary cells; and code foroutputting, in response to training being completed on themachine-learning algorithm, information defining the trainedmachine-learning algorithm.

In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus comprises: means forreceiving multiple sets of data, the multiple sets of data comprisinguser equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in awireless communication system and corresponding measurements of channelquality for one or more secondary cells, wherein the primary celloverlaps with the one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementsof the primary cell are for user equipment in the primary cell; meansfor performing training of a machine learning algorithm at least byapplying the multiple sets of data to the machine learning algorithm,wherein the machine learning algorithm is configured to output aprediction of achievable channel quality for each of the one or moresecondary cells; and means for outputting, in response to training beingcompleted on the machine-learning algorithm, information defining thetrained machine-learning algorithm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the attached Drawing Figures:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of one possible and non-limitingexemplary systems in which the exemplary embodiments may be practiced;

FIGS. 1C-1, 1C-2, and 1D are block diagrams of exemplary configurationsof the non-real time (non-RT) and near-RT radio intelligent controllers(RICs) from FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional view of xRAN/ORAN architecture andinterfaces;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are examples of small cell, Scell, and Pcell deploymentscenarios;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system ofentities, and illustrates messaging and operations performed by theentities in the system;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system ofentities, and illustrates an enhancement to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a signaling and logic flow diagram for SCell selection andoptimization for telecommunication systems such as in carrieraggregation and dual/multi-connectivity for LTE and 5G, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary AI/ML model, which is a deepneural network (DNN), and its inputs and outputs, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following abbreviations that may be found in the specificationand/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:

-   -   3GPP third generation partnership project    -   5G fifth generation    -   5GC 5G core network    -   AI artificial intelligence    -   aka also known as    -   AMF access and mobility management function    -   ANR automatic neighbor relation    -   API application programming interface    -   CA carrier aggregation    -   CPC computer program code    -   CSI channel state information    -   CQI channel quality indicator    -   CU central unit    -   CU-CP central unit-control plane    -   CU-UP central unit-user plane    -   DMRS demodulation reference signal    -   DNN deep neural network    -   DU distributed unit    -   eNB (or eNodeB) evolved Node B (e.g., an LTE base station)    -   gNB (or gNodeB) base station for 5G/NR, i.e., a node providing        NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards        the UE, and connected via the NG interface to the 5GC    -   EN-DC E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity    -   en-gNB or En-gNB node providing NR user plane and control plane        protocol terminations towards the UE, and acting as secondary        node in EN-DC    -   E-UTRA evolved universal terrestrial radio access, i.e., the LTE        radio access technology    -   ID identification    -   I/F interface    -   info information    -   LTE long term evolution    -   MAC medium access control    -   MCS modulation and coding scheme    -   MIMO multiple input, multiple output    -   ML machine learning    -   MME mobility management entity    -   NCE network control element    -   ng or NG new generation    -   ng-eNB new generation eNB    -   NN neural network    -   NR new radio    -   N/W or NW network    -   NSA non-stand alone    -   ONAP open networking automation platform    -   ORAN open RAN alliance    -   Pcell or PCELL primary cell    -   PDCP packet data convergence protocol    -   PF proportionally fair    -   PHR power headroom report    -   PHY physical layer    -   PMI precoding matrix indicator    -   RAN radio access network    -   RAT radio access technology    -   reconfig reconfiguration    -   Rel release    -   RI rank indicator    -   RIC radio intelligent controller    -   RLC radio link control    -   RRC radio resource control    -   RRH remote radio head    -   RRM radio resource management    -   RSRP reference signal received power    -   RSSI received signal strength indicator    -   RT real time    -   RU radio unit    -   Rx receiver    -   Scell or SCELL secondary cell    -   SDAP service data adaptation protocol    -   SE spectral efficiency    -   SeNB secondary eNB    -   SGW serving gateway    -   SINR signal to interference plus noise ratio    -   SMF session management function    -   SRS sounding reference signals    -   TS technical specification    -   Tx transmitter    -   UE user equipment (e.g., a wireless, typically mobile device)    -   UPF user plane function

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described inthis Detailed Description are exemplary embodiments provided to enablepersons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and not to limitthe scope of the invention which is defined by the claims.

The exemplary embodiments herein describe techniques for optimizingScell selection in carrier aggregation and dual/multi-connectivity forLTE AND 5G. Additional description of these techniques is presentedafter a system into which the exemplary embodiments may be used isdescribed. The rest of this disclosure is divided into sections, forease of reference.

Exemplary Systems and Configurations of Radio Intelligent Controllers(RICs)

Turning to FIG. 1A, this figure shows a block diagram of one possibleand non-limiting exemplary system in which the exemplary embodiments maybe practiced. In FIG. 1A, a user equipment (UE) 110, a radio accessnetwork (RAN) node 170, and one or more network control element(s)(NCE(s)) 190 are illustrated. FIG. 1A illustrates possibleconfigurations of RICs known as a near-real time (near-RT) RIC 210 and anon-RT RIC 220. These configurations are described in more detail afterthe elements in FIG. 1A are introduced and also in reference to FIGS.1B, 1C-1, 1C-2, and 1D.

Exemplary System Introduction

In FIG. 1A, a user equipment (UE) 110 is in wireless communication witha wireless network 100. A UE is a wireless, typically mobile device thatcan access a wireless network. The UE 110 includes one or moreprocessors 120, one or more memories 125, and one or more transceivers130 interconnected through one or more buses 127. Each of the one ormore transceivers 130 includes a receiver, Rx, 132 and a transmitter,Tx, 133. The one or more buses 127 may be address, data, or controlbuses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a seriesof lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or otheroptical communication equipment, and the like. The one or moretransceivers 130 are connected to one or more antennas 128. The one ormore memories 125 include computer program code 123. For instance, theone or more memories 125 and the computer program code 123 may beconfigured to, with the one or more processors 120, cause the userequipment 110 to perform one or more of the operations as describedherein. The UE 110 communicates with RAN node 170 via a wireless link111.

The RAN node 170 is a base station that provides access by wirelessdevices such as the UE 110 to the wireless network 100. The RAN node 170may be, for instance, a base station for 5G, also called New Radio (NR).In 5G, the RAN node 170 may be a NG-RAN node, which is defined as eithera gNB or an ng-eNB. The gNB 170 is a node providing NR user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected viathe NG interface to the 5GC (e.g., the NCE(s) 190). The ng-eNB is a nodeproviding E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminationstowards the UE, and connected via the NG interface to the 5GC. TheNG-RAN node may include multiple gNBs, which may also include a centralunit (CU) (gNB-CU) 196 and distributed unit(s) (DUs) (gNB-DUs), of whichDU 195 is shown. Note that the DU may include or be coupled to andcontrol a radio unit (RU). The gNB-CU 196 is a logical node hosting RRC,SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB or RRC and PDCP protocols of theen-gNB that controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CUterminates the F1 interface connected with the gNB-DU 195. The F1interface is illustrated as reference 198, although reference 198 alsoillustrates connection between remote elements of the RAN node 170 andcentralized elements of the RAN node 170, such as between the gNB-CU 196and the gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU is a logical node hosting RLC, MAC andPHY layers of the gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is partly controlledby gNB-CU. One gNB-CU 196 supports one or multiple cells. One cell istypically supported by only one gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU 195 terminatesthe F1 interface 198 connected with the gNB-CU 196. Note that the DU 195is considered to include the transceiver 160, e.g., as part of an RU,but some examples of this may have the transceiver 160 as part of aseparate RU, e.g., under control of and connected to the DU 195. The RANnode 170 may also be an eNB (evolved NodeB) base station, for LTE (longterm evolution), or any other suitable base station.

The RAN node 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or morememories 155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 161, and oneor more transceivers 160 interconnected through one or more buses 157.Each of the one or more transceivers 160 includes a receiver, Rx, 162and a transmitter, Tx, 163. The one or more transceivers 160 areconnected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155include computer program code 153. The CU 196 may include theprocessor(s) 152, memories 155, and network interfaces 161. Note thatthe DU 195 may also contain its own memory/memories and processor(s),and/or other hardware, but these are not shown.

The RAN node 170 includes a RIC module 150, comprising one of or bothparts 150-1 and/or 150-2, which may be implemented in a number of ways.The RIC module 150 may be implemented in hardware as RIC module 150-1,such as being implemented as part of the one or more processors 152. TheRIC module 150-1 may be implemented also as an integrated circuit orthrough other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In anotherexample, the RIC module 150 may be implemented as RIC module 150-2,which is implemented as computer program code 153 and is executed by theone or more processors 152. For instance, the one or more memories 155and the computer program code 153 are configured to, with the one ormore processors 152, cause the RAN node 170 to perform one or more ofthe operations as described herein. The one or more network interfaces161 communicate over a network such as via the links 176 and 131. Two ormore gNBs 170 communicate using, e.g., link 176. The link 176 may bewired or wireless or both and may implement, e.g., an Xn interface for5G, an X1 interface for LTE, or other suitable interface for otherstandards.

The one or more buses 157 may be address, data, or control buses, andmay include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines ona motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or other opticalcommunication equipment, wireless channels, and the like. For example,the one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a remote radiohead (RRH) 195 for LTE or a distributed unit (DU) 195 for gNBimplementation for 5G, with the other elements of the RAN node 170possibly being physically in a different location from the RRH/DU 195,and the one or more buses 157 could be implemented in part as, e.g.,fiber optic cable or other suitable network connection to connect theother elements (e.g., a central unit (CU), gNB-CU) of the RAN node 170to the RRH/DU 195. Reference 195 also indicates those suitable networkconnection(s).

The wireless network 100 may include a network control element (NCE) (orelements, NCE(s)) 190 that may include core network functionality, andwhich provides connectivity via a link or links 181 with a furthernetwork, such as a telephone network and/or a data communicationsnetwork (e.g., the Internet). Such core network functionality for 5G mayinclude access and mobility management function(s) (AMF(S)) and/or userplane functions (UPF(s)) and/or session management function(s) (SMF(s)).Such core network functionality for LTE may include MME (MobilityManagement Entity)/SGW (Serving Gateway) functionality. These are merelyexemplary functions that may be supported by the NCE(s) 190, and notethat both 5G and LTE functions might be supported. The RAN node 170 iscoupled via a link 131 to the NCE 190. The link 131 may be implementedas, e.g., an NG interface for 5G, or an S1 interface for LTE, or othersuitable interface for other standards. The NCE 190 includes one or moreprocessors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more networkinterfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 180, interconnected through one or more buses185. The one or more memories 171 include computer program code (CPC)173. The one or more memories 171 and the computer program code 173 areconfigured to, with the one or more processors 175, cause the NCE 190 toperform one or more operations. The NCE 190 includes a RIC module 140,comprising one of or both parts 140-1 and/or 140-2, which may beimplemented in a number of ways. The RIC module 140 may be implementedin hardware as RIC module 140-1, such as being implemented as part ofthe one or more processors 120. The RIC module 140-1 may be implementedalso as an integrated circuit or through other hardware such as aprogrammable gate array. In another example, the RIC module 140 may beimplemented as RIC module 140-2, which is implemented as computerprogram code 173 and is executed by the one or more processors 120.

The wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, which isthe process of combining hardware and software network resources andnetwork functionality into a single, software-based administrativeentity, a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platformvirtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Networkvirtualization is categorized as either external, combining manynetworks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal,providing network-like functionality to software containers on a singlesystem. Note that the virtualized entities that result from the networkvirtualization are still implemented, at some level, using hardware suchas processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and also suchvirtualized entities create technical effects.

The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any typesuitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented usingany suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memorydevices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, opticalmemory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Thecomputer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be means for performingstorage functions. The processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any typesuitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or moreof general purpose computers, special purpose computers,microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors basedon a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Theprocessors 120, 152, and 175 may be means for performing functions, suchas controlling the UE 110, RAN node 170, and other functions asdescribed herein.

Possible Configurations of Radio Intelligent Controllers (RICs)

Possible configurations are shown of RICs known as a near-real time(near-RT) RIC 210 and a non-RT RIC 220 in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C-1, 1C-2, and1D. While the actual locations of these two elements have yet to bedecided upon, there are a number of possibilities.

One possible instantiation of RIC non-RT 220 and RIC near-RT 210 isthese are entities separate from the RAN node 170. This is illustratedby FIG. 1A, where both the RIC near-RT 210 and the RIC non-RT 220 couldbe implemented by a single NCE 190 or by multiple NCEs 190.

However it is also possible that the RIC near-RT 210 functionality maybe a part of the RAN node 170, in a couple of cases:

1) The RAN node itself may be composed of a centralized unit (CU) thatmay reside in the edge cloud, and so the RAN CU and the RIC near-RT 210would be at least collocated, and may be even combined; or

2) The RIC near-RT 210 functionality may be possibly hosted inside a RANnode 170.

FIG. 1B illustrates that the RIC near-RT 210 may be implemented in theRAN node 170, e.g., combined with the RIC module 150 (e.g., as part ofRIC module 150-1 as shown or RIC module 150-2 or some combination ofthose). In this example, the RIC non-RT 220 would be implemented in theNCE 190, e.g., as part of the RIC module 140 (e.g., as part of RICmodule 140-1 as shown or RIC module 140-2 or some combination of those).

FIG. 1C-1 illustrates a RAN node 170 in an edge cloud 250. The RAN node170 includes a CU 196 that includes the RIC module 140 and, as aseparate entity, the RIC near-RT 210. The separate RIC near-RT 210 couldbe implemented by the processor(s) 152 and memories 155 (and/or othercircuitry) by the RAN node 170 or have its own, separate processor(s)and memories (and/or other circuitry). This is the collocation from (1)above. The combined aspect of (1) above is illustrated by the dashedline around the RIC near-RT 210, indicating the RIC near-RT 210 is alsopart of the CU 196. FIG. 1C-1 also illustrates the RIC near-RT 210 maybe implemented as part of the RIC module 140 in a NCE 190 that is in acentralized cloud 260. In the example of FIG. 1C-1, the DU 195 will betypically located at the cell site 197 and may include the RU.

The edge cloud 250 may be viewed as a “hosting location”, e.g., a kindof data center. Multiple elements may be hosted there, such as the CU,RIC, core network elements such as MME/SGW or NGC, and yet otherfunctions like MEC (mobile edge computing) platforms, and the like.

In the example of FIG. 1C-2, the DU 195 could also be located in acentral office 102, in so-called Centralized-RAN configurations. Inthese configurations, the DU 195 is at the central office 102, but theRU is at the cell site 197, and the DU 195 is interconnected to the RUtypically by a fiber network 103 or other suitable network (theso-called “Fronthaul”).

It is also possible the RIC near-RT 210 may be located at an edge cloud,at some relatively small latency from the RAN node (30-100 ms has beendiscussed), while the RIC non-RT 220 may be at a greater latency likelyin a centralized cloud. This is illustrated by FIG. 1D, where NCE 190-1is located at an edge cloud 250 and comprises the RIC module 140 whichincorporates the RIC near-RT 210. The RIC non-RT 220, meanwhile, isimplemented in this example in the RIC module 140 of another NCE 190-2in the centralized cloud 260.

Having thus introduced one suitable but non-limiting technical contextfor the practice of the exemplary embodiments of this invention, theexemplary embodiments will now be described with greater specificity.

Additional Introduction

As described above, the xRAN consortium has an effort to create a RadioIntelligent Controller (RIC) (e.g., an xRAN controller platform), whichtypically is defined with two parts, a RIC near-real time (near-RT)portion and a RIC non-RT portion. Both of these might be used formachine learning systems, though the non-RT portion is assumed tooperate over a longer period of time than does the near-RT portion,which is assumed to operate in close to real time. FIG. 2 illustrates afunctional view of xRAN/ORAN architecture and interfaces. This examplehas a policy/orchestration engine 240, such as ONAP. Thepolicy/orchestration engine 240 includes policy 235 (e.g., stored in adatabase) and the RIC non-RT 220. The RIC non-RT 220 may be used formodel training and other features. There is an A1 reference point 221between the policy/orchestration engine 240 and the RIC non-RT 220.

The RIC near-RT 210 in this example comprises RAN/RRM optimizationalgorithms 215, analytics toolkits 205, data gathering 255 (e.g., forstorage, streaming, and the like), and a control API 211. The RICnear-RT 210 is also known as (aka) an xRAN controller. There is an E2reference point 230 (in ORAN) between the RIC near-RT 210 and the RANnode 170. The E2 reference point is also known as B1 in xRAN.

The RAN node 170 comprises a CU 196 which comprises a part for thecontrol plane, CU-CP 265, and a part for the user plane, CU-UP 270. TheCU 196 communicates with the DU 195 using these parts 265, 270. The DU195 communicates with and controls the radio unit (RU) 280. The RAN node170 in this example might contain one or both of eNB or gNBfunctionality.

As also indicated above, one application of these is to help thecellular network perform cell selection for user equipment (UE). Suchcell selection may be based upon carrier aggregation (CA) ordual-connectivity (DC) or multi-connectivity (MC). Carrier aggregationis a key functionality of RAN in LTE and 5G, allowing UEs to connectsimultaneously to cells on multiple carriers, enabling the UEs to reachhigher throughputs as well as enabling fast-time-scale load-balancingacross multiple carriers. A UE will generally have a primary cell, knownas a Pcell (typically the cell through which the UE first connects tothe RAN). The RAN (typically via the Pcell) may provide the UEadditional configuration information to enable it to simultaneouslyconnect to additional cells on carriers other than the Pcell, which areknown as the UE's Secondary cells or Scells. The RAN node 170 decideswhich cells (e.g., carriers) should be configured as Secondary Cells(Scells) for a given UE 110. In carrier aggregation, a UE's data streamacross the Pcell and different Scells is typically aggregated at the RLClayer. An Scell may be hosted at the same RAN node as the Pcell(intra-site carrier aggregation), or a different RAN node (inter-sitecarrier aggregation). Either Pcell or Scell may flexibly use radioaccess technologies such as LTE or 5G/New Radio (5G/NR). In dualconnectivity (or multi-connectivity) as well, a UE can connectsimultaneously to multiple cells. Typically a given UE's secondary cellsin DC or MC will be hosted at different RAN nodes than the RAN nodehosting the UE's Pcell. The Pcell RAN node (called MeNB or Master eNB)can interact with the RAN node hosting the secondary cell (called SeNBor Secondary eNB) over an interface such as X2 or Xn. Dual connectivityor multi-connectivity may even be used together with carrieraggregation, for example wherein a UE connects to a given SeNB by dualconnectivity, and then enters carrier aggregation with multiple Scellshosted at that SeNB. Either MeNB or SeNB may flexibly use radio accesstechnologies such as LTE or 5G/New Radio (5G/NR). Embodiments describedherein may often refer to carrier aggregation and selection/assignmentof Scells for UEs, but it should be understood that this broadlyencompasses dual and multi-connectivity (and the selection of SeNBs forUEs), as well as the possible combined usage of carrier aggregation anddual connectivity. In general the term ‘carrier aggregation’ may bebroadly used to encompass also dual and multi connectivity, and the term‘Scell’ may be used broadly to also encompass SCG or SeNB, and the term‘Pcell’ may be used broadly to also encompass MeNB.

A likely deployment scenario is that the Scells may be on differentbands (that is, carriers) than the UE's primary cell (Pcell), and thusmay have significantly different signal and interference characteristicsthan the Pcell. For instance, the Pcell may be on a lower band (e.g.,700 or 800 MHz) while the Scell may be on 2.6 GHz or 3.5 GHz.

The Pcell is quite likely to be a macro-cell. But the Scell may beeither (i) a macro cell hosted at the same site as Pcell, or (ii) amacro cell hosted at a different site than the Pcell or (iii) a smallcell hosted at a different site.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are examples of small cell, Scell, and PCell deploymentscenarios. In FIG. 3A, both the PCell 330 and Scell 320-2 are formed bythe RAN node 170, while the small cell 320-1 is formed by another RANnode 340. This illustrates (i) and (iii). In FIG. 3B, the PCell 330 isformed by the RAN node 170-1, the Scell 320-2 is formed by the RAN node170-2, and the small cell 320-1 is formed by another RAN node 340. Thisillustrates (ii) and (iii).

With respect to (ii), for instance, if Scells 320 are on 3.5 GHz whilethe Pcell 330 is at 700 Mz, the 3.5 GHz band may need a more densedeployment than 700 MHz, with many more sites hosting 3.5 GHz than 700MHz. So in this case from the perspective of a given 700 MHz cell, theremay be multiple 3.5 GHz cells which can be potential Scells 320.

With respect to (iii), for instance, small cells 320-1 may be on streetlamps or sides of buildings, and there may be multiple small cells 320-1within the coverage of a macro cell (e.g., Pcell 330).

One consequence of the above observations is that the signal tointerference and noise ratio (SINR) experienced by a UE (andconsequently, the spectral efficiency or CQI achievable by the UE) on agiven Scell 320 may be quite different than the SINR (or equivalently,spectral efficiency, or channel quality indicator (CQI)) of the UE onthe Pcell 330.

A UE connected to PCell 330 would normally only report channel qualityindicators and other measurements related to the channel conditions theUE observes for the Pcell 330. Since the channel conditions on otherScells are not observed by the UE and since those may be quite differentthan the UE's channel conditions on Pcell 330, one issue therefore isthat when selecting a cell (such as cell 320-1 or cell 320-2) toconfigure as an Scell for a given UE connected to a given Pcell 330, theRAN node 170 does not have any direct information on the spectralefficiency by a given UE on potential Scells 320-1 or 320-2. Due tothis, for example, a theoretically optimal selection of an Scell for agiven UE, which would take into account both the load on the candidateScells 320-1 and 320-2 and the UE's achievable spectral efficiency onthe candidate Scells 320-1 and 320-2, is not possible in practice. Forinstance, to maximize log utility and achieve proportional fairness, atheoretically optimal decision would be to select the Scell whichmaximizes the ratio of spectral efficiency of the UE on the Scell to aload (represented by a ‘proportionally fair metric’) of the Scell. Thisrequires knowledge of the spectral efficiency of the UE on the candidateScells such as 320-1 and 320.

One possible approach is that the RAN node 170 can request the UE 110 toprovide reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements on potentialcandidate Scells. However, this has some significant drawbacks: (i) theUE has to spend significant battery power trying to measure signalstrength on the candidate Scells when the UE may not even be within thecoverage of an Scell, as the Scells may have limited coverage relativeto UE's Pcell; (ii) making such inter-frequency measurements requiresmeasurement gaps (i.e. transmission interruptions on the Pcell thatwould allow the UE to perform measurements on cells such as Scells thatare on other carriers), so the UE loses throughput on Pcell; and (iii)even if RSRP can be measured, RSRP does not directly translate to SINRor spectral efficiency that the UE can achieve on the Scell.

Thus, one issue is how to devise a way to predict the channel quality(e.g., SINR or spectral efficiency) achievable by a UE on a given Scell,without incurring the overhead that would be needed for all UEs to makeinter-frequency measurements on candidate Scells and while accountingfor the potentially different coverage areas and channel conditions ofScells relative to Pcells.

It should be noted that, while the above is described for carrieraggregation Scell selection, essentially the same problem also appliesin selecting SeNBs for dual-connectivity or multi-connectivity (in LTEor 5G, or in LTE/5G NSA multi-RAT systems). So we will interpret‘carrier aggregation’ and ‘Scell selection’ more generally as alsoincluding such ‘dual/multi-connectivity’.

Additional Description of Exemplary Embodiments

In an exemplary proposed method, we propose a particular application of,e.g., an xRAN controller for optimally determining assignments ofcarriers (and their corresponding Scells) to UEs for carrier aggregationand dual/multi-connectivity, exploiting the xRAN/ORAN architecture andinterfaces.

More detail is provided with reference to FIG. 4, which is a blockdiagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system of entities, andillustrates messaging and operations performed by the entities in thesystem. The entities performing operations are the RIC non-RT 220, theRIC near-RT 210, the RAN node 170, and the UE 110.

A RIC non-RT 220 can perform model training with a model training module410, using one or more artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning(ML) models 430 such as neural networks (NN). This model 430 (or models430) may be a machine learning algorithm 431, which may broadlyencompass a variety of artificial intelligence methods such as neuralnetworks of various kinds (e.g., deep neural networks), or statisticalor mathematical methods such as regression or support vector machines orclustering. The illustration of the model 430 also has an AI componentto indicate the possibility that an AI method such as a neural networkis a possible implementation. In the text below, a NN is assumed, butnot a necessary component. This model 430 is also referred to below asthe Scell channel quality prediction model. The RIC near-RT 210 also hasthe AI/ML model 430.

An Scell prediction module 420 (which can be hosted at the RIC near-RT210) may be used to predict the channel quality (e.g., spectralefficiency (SE) or SINR or CQI) achievable by a UE 110 on a givencandidate Scell 320. The Scell prediction module 420 also supports aninterface towards a RAN node 170 for (i) receiving data from the RANnode 170; and (ii) providing a prediction 435 of the achievable SINR orSE achievable by a given UE. The interface is mappable to E2 interfacein ORAN, formerly known as B1 interface in xRAN. See FIG. 2 forinstance.

The Scell prediction module 420 receives from the RAN node 170 a list490 of one or more candidate Scells. The RAN node 170 may determine thisusing any known method—e.g., based on ANR procedures or eNB/gNBconfiguration parameters. The Scell prediction module 420 receives datafrom the RAN node 170 related to one or more UEs, comprisingradio/channel measurements made by the UE on its primary carrier. Seeblock 455. Additionally, in block 465, the Pcell (i.e., the RAN node170) makes UE-related measurements on the Pcell. These measurements mayinclude one or more of the following for the P cell (note thatadditional measurements are described below):

CQI (instantaneous or suitably averaged/filtered);

RSRP to Pcell, and optionally RSRPs to multiple neighbor cells on thesame carrier as Pcell, which is reported by the UE to the RAN node;

Timing advance, which is estimated by the eNB from the UE's uplinkreceived signal, typically from RACH transmissions (which is a measureof distance from the RAN node 170);

Angle of arrival of UE signals at the RAN node 170, which typically ismeasured/estimated at the RAN node 170 from the UE's uplink receivedsignal (either data (PUSCH) or control (PUCCH or RACH or SRS or DMRS)channel uplink transmissions);

Per-antenna received signal-strength measurements—RSSI or receivedsignal strength at each antenna on the Pcell, measured at the eNB fromthe UE's uplink received signal—typically from SRS or PUCCH or PUSCH;

Antenna phase measurements; and/or

Beam indication or beam direction indication, for example in a MIMO(multiple-input multiple-output) system—these may be based either oninformation reported by the UE or based on measurements made from UEtransmissions such as sounding reference signals (SRS).

Concerning CQI, the UE reports CQI to the RAN node. The RAN node mayfurther apply filtering/averaging (e.g., a sliding window average orexponential average) to the reported CQI to form, e.g., a longer-termaverage CQI. Although we have used the term “CQI”, one could alsoinclude also PMI and RI because these (CQI, RI, PMI) together form theUE's “channel state information” (CSI).

As mentioned, RI (rank indicator) and PMI (precoding matrix indicator)are reported by the UE in MIMO to indicate if the channel to the UEwould allow multiple simultaneous MIMO streams (the “rank” of thechannel covariance matrix), and the precoder that the eNB (or other RANnode 170) should use for beamforming.

Regarding the per-antenna received-signal-strength measurements,typically Pcell will be low-band, and so likely only 2 or 4 antennaswill be used. Nonetheless, it may still be useful compared to RSRP, asRSRP requires RRC overhead while received signal strength is measurableby just the RAN node 170, and hence is more reflective of‘instantaneous’ channel conditions than RSRP.

In more detail, there are a number of UE-related measurements 470 thatare taken on the Pcell 330. Some of these are UE-related measurements470-1 taken by the Pcell in block 465 and some of these are UE-relatedmeasurements 470-2 taken by the UEs (e.g., by a specific UE) andreceived in block 455. The UE-related measurements 470-1 taken by thePcell may include one or more of the following: 1) Timing Advance; 2)Angle of Arrival; and/or 3) Per-antenna signal strength measurements 4)Signal strength measurements; 5) Per-antenna phase measurements; and/or6) Beam-related measurements. The UE-related measurements 470-2 taken bythe UEs (e.g., by a specific UE) may include one or more of thefollowing: 1) CSI (one or more of CQI, PMI, or RI); 2) SINR; 3) SE; 4)PHR; 5) RSRP and/or 6) Beam-related measurements. The beam-relatedmeasurements address the case where the Pcell may have multiple beams ina massive MIMO system. More detail is presented below about thesemeasurements.

The Scell prediction module 420 determines a prediction 435 of channelquality (e.g., spectral efficiency or SINR or CQI or some combination ofthese) achievable by the UE 110 on one or more Scells. The predictioncan use AI/ML techniques such as a neural network in model 430 (orneural networks in models 430). Additional details are described below.The Scell prediction module 420 provides to the RAN node 170 theprediction 435 of the achievable channel quality (e.g., SINR or SE orCQI) of the UE on one or more Scells.

The RAN node 170 can then make (see block 445) a selection of the bestScell (possibly multiple Scells 320) for the UE 110 based on the channelquality prediction as well as other factors such as load of the Scell.For instance, block 440 provides an input to block 445 of the Scell loadestimate. The selection of the best Scell may be performed, for example,by examining a ratio of the predicted channel quality on each Scell tothe load on that Scell, and selecting the Scell which has the highestratio. Other criteria may be used, for example using the load as acriterion to determine a weighting for each cell to be applied to thepredicted channel quality, where candidate Scells with a higher loadreceive a lower weighting. The RAN node 170, in response to theselection of the best Scell, sends RRC reconfiguration (reconfig)information to provide Scell information to the UE 110 for the selectedScell. See block 450. It is noted that if the RAN node sends Scellreconfig information (see block 450) for multiple Scells, the UE shouldtry to connect to all of them. Of course it is possible that the UE mayreach the coverage area of some but not all of the Scells, and so cannotconnect to all, but typically the UE should not be filtering out Scellsotherwise.

Note that it is possible that the selection of the best Scell in block445 may be performed even if there is only a single Scell 320 thatoverlaps the Pcell 330. There is no true “selection” between Scells 320to be performed as such since there is only one Scell, but the methodwould still enable choosing “when” to provide the UE with configuration(e.g., in block 450). So providing configuration too early (before theUE is anywhere close to the range of the S cell) may be wasteful interms of the UE's trying to search/measure the Scell. The system coulduse the same method of predicting the channel quality/spectralefficiency of the UE on the one Scell, and providing the RRCreconfiguration (reconfig) information in block 450 only when thepredicted spectral efficiency is “not too low”, e.g., meets somethreshold. One could still think of this as “selecting” an Scell asopposed to “not selecting” the Scell, so the selection in block 445 mayalso include determining a suitable time at which the (single) Scellshould be selected and information should be provided to a UE based onthe predicted channel quality.

The Scell prediction module 420 supports an interface towards RIC non-RT220 to facilitate Scell channel prediction model training by the modeltraining module 410. The interface is mappable to A1 interface inORAN/xRAN. See FIG. 2. The Scell prediction module 420 forms a “UE Pcellsignature” 426 based on the received data and communicates this UE Pcellsignature 426 to the RIC non-RT 220. See block 425. An example of the“UE Pcell signature” 426 is described in more detail in reference toFIG. 7. Note that the primary examples herein have block 425 performedby RIC near-RT 210 and its Scell prediction module 420, but the formingof the UE signature in block 425 may be performed by the RAN node 170,which would send the UE Pcell signature 426 toward the RIC near-RT 210.In this context, there may be no need for the RIC near-RT 210 to furtherform a signature, though in principle the RIC near-RT 210 may performsome further processing on the signature before feeding it to theprediction module (e.g., the AI/ML model 430). The Scell predictionmodule 420 receives from the RAN node 170 data of UEs 110 that havealready been assigned Scells 320, relating to the radio/channelmeasurements of those UEs 110 on those Scells 320. See block 460. Thisfeedback should include UE-related measurements on the Pcell (eithermade by the Pcell or reported by the UE, e.g., as in references 470-1and 470-2), as well as UE-related measurements for those UEs on theirassigned Scells. The Scell-related measurement would typically comprisechannel quality measurements—either CSI (including CQI/PMI/RI as above)and/or RSRP). The Scell prediction module 420 provides that data (or anaggregate or transform of that data) to the RIC non-RT 220.

Regarding the training performed by model training module 410, thetraining could operate in the following way. Assume UE1, UE2, . . . UEnall have a given primary cell, say cell1, and they have all beenassigned a given Scell, say cell2. For each of these UEs, the system maydetermine the measurements from the Pcell (cell1): Consider the Pcellmeasurements being used are (CQI on Pcell, Timing Advance on Pcell, PHRon Pcell, Angle of Arrival on Pcell), and this comprises a vector forthat particular UE. This vector is the “UE Pcell signature 426”, forinstance. For the measurements from n UEs, there would be n vectors X1,X2, . . . Xn for then UEs. These Xi vectors will be the input to themodel 430. Thus our vectors can form a matrix X=X1, . . . Xn, one samplefrom each UE (each is a “training example”, also called “trainingdata”). In practice, the UEs will keep generating these measurementsperiodically, so over time the system will collect many samples fromeach of multiple UEs, but to keep things simple, assume there is onemeasurement (vector) from each UE.

For each of these UEs, we also obtain certain measurements of interestfrom cell2: One possible measure is the CQI as a measure of channelquality, but we could use the same method for other characteristics ofinterest too, such RSRP, other CSI, and the like. Assume for ease ofreference for each of these UEs we have the CQIs, which will be referredto as Y1, . . . Yn.

Consequently, for each “training example”, we have input “Xi” and output“Yi”—this is our training set (also called a data/label pair), which thesystem will use to train the neural network model, as one implementationof AI/ML model 430. Training can be by well-known neural networkalgorithms—back propagation/steepest descent, and the like.

In additional detail regarding training by the model training module410, the training based on the data 460 of UEs that have been assignedScells may proceed in an exemplary embodiment as follows. Consider oneof multiple UEs, and suppose this UE has been assigned Scells S1, S2,S3, and its Pcell is P1. Assume we have a vector of that UE'smeasurements on these Pcell, v_(P). For each of the Scells, assume wehave also a vector of measurements v_(S1), v_(S2), v_(S3). For example,v_(S1) could be just the CQI of UE on Scell S1, or this vector could be(CQI, RSRP) of the UE on Scell S1, or some similar measurement ofchannel quality. Thus we have a training sample that when the UE hadmeasurements v_(P) on the Pcell P1, the UE had measurements v_(S1) oncell S1, v_(S2) on cell S2, and so on. Now we can collect many suchtraining samples—from the same UE at different times, and/or from otherUEs.

We can train a neural network, as a AL/ML model 430, with the followinginputs and outputs:

Input=vector of Pcell measurements on P1; and

Output=vector of channel quality on Scell S1.

A neural network is therefore trained to predict the channel quality onScell S1 for UEs whose Pcell is P1, and for training this neural networkone could use just the info for v_(P1) and v_(S1).

Similarly, we can train a second neural network to predict the channelquality on Scell S2 for UEs whose Pcell is P1, and for training thisneural network we would use just the info for v_(P1) and v_(S2).

And so on, separate neural networks for each Scell. This version entailsmultiple models 430, each model comprising a NN such as a DNN.

Once the model 430 is trained, we can apply it to other UEs. Theinformation (info.) 441 is information that defines the AI/ML model(s)430 or corresponding machine-learning algorithm 431. For instance, for aNN or DNN, the information 441 can define and indicate weights andstructure (e.g., number of layers and nodes, inputs, outputs) of thecorresponding NN/DNN. Given a vector {circumflex over (X)} representingPcell measurements on cell 1 of some other UE, the model 430 willpredict the CQI Ŷ representing the CQI that the model 430 determines theUE can achieve on that particular Scell, cell2. Note that the output Ŷis a “continuous” quantity here, not a label like “cat” as in imageclassification. So the NN is performing a form of “regression” ratherthan “classification”.

As described above, the model 430 takes as input a UE's measurements ona given Pcell (cell1) and outputs a prediction of the UE's CQI on agiven Scell (cell2). With this approach, for each (cell1, cell2) pair,we would have a different model. In principle we could also try tocreate some bigger neural network which is a common predictor across all(cell1, cell2) pairs, in which case the input vector could be ((UE'sPcell measurements), Pcell identifier, Scell identifier), and the outputcould be Scell CQI on the particular Scell identifier specified in theinput. The same logic as above applied, but now one can place allmeasurements on all Pcells and Scells into a common large training setand train one bigger model 430.

In additional detail, we could train a “combined” neural network (as asingle model 430) which at one effort predicts the channel quality onall the Scells S1, S2, S3. In this case, the neural network takes asinput the vector of Pcell measurements on P1, and outputs a vector (v1,v2, v3) where v1 is channel quality on S1, etc. To train this neuralnetwork, each training sample consists of input v_(P1) and output(v_(S1), v_(S2), v_(S3)) (e.g., ordered according to cell ID).

It is possible the first implementation is easier—since a given UE maynot have measurements on all the possible Scells, there may be“non-existent data” for some Scells. If separate neural networks aretrained for each Scell, then one can feed the training process just theinformation about cells for which you actually have measurements. In the“combined neural network” approach, one would have to deal with missingor incomplete data, which can be done, but is possibly more cumbersome.

The Scell prediction module 420 receives from the RIC non-RT 220 adescriptor of an AI/ML model 430 (e.g., neural network configuration andweights) for Scell channel quality prediction, and this informationdefined the AI/ML model 430. The Scell prediction module 420 uses thedefined and received AI/ML model 430 in determining the prediction ofchannel quality (e.g., spectral efficiency or SINR or CQI or somecombination of these) achievable by a UE on one or more Scells.

A potential enhancement is that the Scell prediction Module 420 performsthe best Scell selection. See FIG. 5. That is, instead of the Scellprediction module providing just the Scell channel quality prediction tothe RAN and letting the RAN node determine the best Scell selection, oneoption is to have the Scell prediction module further determine the bestScell for the UE as well. In this case the Scell prediction module 420would perform the following:

Receive information about the load on UE's Pcell and candidate Scellsfrom RAN nodes;

Determine the Scell channel quality prediction for the UE on one or morecandidate Scells;

Select (see block 445-1) the best Scell (or top-N Scells) for the UEtaking into account both the load on Scells as well as the UE'sachievable channel quality on the Scells, and other factors may be takeninto account such as the band or carrier combinations supported by theUE, the UE capabilities, and the like; and

Provide information 446 on the selected Scell (e.g., indication of thebest Scell or top-N Scells) to the RAN node.

The RAN node would then provide RRC reconfiguration information to theUE to configure information on the selected Scell(s). See block 450.

Note that if only one Scell is indicated in the information 446, thenthe RAN node 170 would just provide RRC reconfiguration information forthat Scell to the UE. If N cells are indicated in the information 446(the “top N” case, which would be, e.g., an ordered list of N cells),then the RAN node 170 has still some flexibility to choose one or moreof those and provide RRC reconfiguration information to the UE for thosecells—e.g. the RAN could choose all N cells, or some subset thereof, andthe like

Exemplary Implementation Details

The following includes some reasoning behind the techniques that werepresented above and also additional possible implementation details.

As for the reasoning, initially Scells 320 can be assigned to UEs 110based on some (e.g., sub-optimal) method. For instance, the assignmentcould be based on just “blind” or random assignment, or requiring theUEs to make inter-frequency measurements, and the like. This means thatfor some time, the system will be inefficient. Based on this (e.g.,inefficient) assignment of Scells 320, we can collect data about the UEs110 that do manage to enter the coverage of the Scells, such as thefollowing:

1) Measurements (made by the UE or by the RAN node 170) on Pcell: CQI,timing advance, angle of arrival, per-antenna signal measurements, andthe like; and/or

2) Measurements on different Scells such as CQI feedback from UEs, orachieved throughput reported by RAN nodes 170.

This data can be used to train a machine learning algorithm 431 such asa neural network implemented in the AI/ML model 430. This model 430takes as input the Pcell measurements, and outputs a prediction 435 ofthe S cell CQI for a given Scell. The reasoning here is that the Pcellmeasurements of a given UE, taken together, constitute a set of datathat is essentially a near-unique “signature” of the UE's locationwithin the Pcell, and can with good accuracy pin-point which Scells 320are likely to provide good channel characteristics at that location.This is the reason the UE Pcell signature 426 is named as such.

The following attributes can be used (see block 424 of FIG. 4) to formUE Pcell signature 426. The signature can be either directly a vector ofthese attributes, or a function of these attributes. The function may becontinuous (e.g., preferably monotonic), or for example may be a type ofcompression mapping which may have the effect of reducing thedimensionality of the space of the vector of attributes, or itself couldbe formed using a machine learning algorithm such as an auto-encoder ora support vector machine.

Regarding possible functions, one can first form a vector v=(Pcell CQI,Pcell PHR, Pcell timing advance, Pcell AoA, and the like) (or whateverPcell measurements there are in the UE-related measurements 470 taken onthe Pcell), and then form a function x=f(v). For each “trainingexample”, we have then an input x, and the output y is the UE's CQI (orspectral efficiency as indicated by the CQI, and the like) on the Scell.The AI model 430 can either be trained with training data consisting of(x,y) samples where x=f(v), or can be trained with (v,y) where thevector v could be directly input to the neural network rather than firstforming a function x=f(v).

One purpose of the x=f(v) operation is dimensionality reduction—inprinciple you may have a largish number of measurements included in v,many of which may be highly correlated, and you can “compress” the inputspace. So the function f(•) can be a sort of “companding”. Acontinuous/monotonic map would be one map, but other mappings could beused to form the signature. For example the mapping f(•) itself could beanother machine learning algorithm, such as an auto-encoder.

Regarding the possible attributes used in the vector, a first attributemight be CQI (equivalently SINR or spectral efficiency) of UE on thePcell 330. This attribute roughly identifies how close to the Pcellcenter the UE is, and how far from the edges

Additionally or alternatively, a second attribute might be timingadvance, which roughly identifies the distance from the Pcell's centerat which the UE is.

Additionally or alternatively, a third attribute might bedirection/angle of arrival of UE's signal at the eNB/gNB antenna, whichindicates direction of the UE (or direction of a dominant path to theUE) relative to the cell center.

Additionally or alternatively, a fourth attribute might be PHR—powerheadroom report—a measure of the path loss to the UE, which is a measureof the distance of the UE from the cell.

Additionally or alternatively, a fifth attribute might be per-antennasignal strength measurements in a MIMO Pcell 330, which further narrowsdown the relative spot of the UE, as the signal strength or phase ondifferent antennas reflects the relative difference between multiplepaths from the antennas to the UE.

Additionally or alternatively, a fifth attribute might be, if available,RSRP measurements of the UE to the Pcell, as well as to one or moreintra-frequency neighbor cells of the Pcell 330, where each RSRPrepresents a distance from that neighbor cell, which can be effectivelyused to ‘triangulate’ the UE.

Note that there is no need to actually estimate the UE's location fromthe UE Pcell signature 426, just that these attributes togetherconstitute a near-unique identifier which may be approximatelyinterpreted as corresponding to a location. Thus, the signal strength ofScell at the UE's position, as well as interference experienced in theScell's carrier at that location, can be fairly accurately predictedbased on the UE's Pcell signature. Some of the UE Scell selections willturn out to be efficient, some will not be. As more and more UEs getassigned Scells, however, more training data will be gathered and abetter correlation between the UE's Pcell signature 425 and thepotential CQI (or other channel quality) on the Scell can be developed,which will manifest as improved training of the AI/ML model 430.

Regarding the message flow, FIG. 6 is a signaling and logic flow diagramfor SCell selection and optimization for telecommunication systems suchas in carrier aggregation and dual/multi-connectivity for LTE and 5G.FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of an exemplary method or methods, aresult of execution of computer program instructions embodied on acomputer readable memory, functions performed by logic implemented inhardware, and/or interconnected means for performing functions inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 6 shows signaling betweenthe RAN node 170 (e.g., as eNB/gNB, or CU of a gNB, etc.), the Scellprediction module 420 of the RIC near-RT 210, and the model trainingmodule 410 of the RIC non-RT 220. The operations that are performed byeach entity is assumed to be performed by execution of computer programcode on one or more processors, which causes the corresponding entity toperform that action, or by hardware specifically implemented to causethe entity to perform that action, or by some combination of these.

Initially, the Scell selection cane be made based on an initialized (butnot fully trained) model 430. The Scell selections will then bepseudo-random, and possibly inefficient. This is illustrated by theoperations or signaling in reference numbers 610-630. In block 610, theScell prediction module 420 initializes Scell channel prediction. TheRAN node 170 in step 615 sends and the S cell prediction module 420receives UE Pcell measurements (e.g., the UE-related measurements 470taken on the Pcell). In block 620, the Scell prediction module 420performs the operation of determining UE's Scell channel qualityprediction based on the initial Scell prediction model (e.g., in themodel 430). The Scell prediction module 420 (e.g., via the RIC near-RT210) provides in step 625 Scell channel quality prediction for the UE,which is received by the RAN node 170. The RAN node 170 selects an Scellbased on this prediction and assigns this Scell to the UE (e.g., viasignaling to the UE, not shown in FIG. 6). See block 630.

Pcell and Scell measurements can be gathered from the UEs 110 that havebeen assigned Scells 320. These measurements can be passed to the modeltraining module 410 (at the RIC non-RT 220) to update the modeltraining, and the updated model 430 is provided to the Scell predictionmodule (at the RIC near-RT 210). Subsequently, the updated/trained model430 is used to generate predictions of the channel quality achievable bya UE on one or more Scells. This is illustrated by reference numbers635-665. Once a sufficient number of UEs 110 have been assigned Scells320 in this manner, the resulting updated model training will yieldimproved accuracy.

In step 635, the RAN node 170 transmits and the Scell prediction module420 (as part of the RIC near-RT 210) receives Pcell, Scell measurementsfrom UEs already assigned to Scells. In step 640, the Scell predictionmodule 420 (as part of the RIC near-RT 210) transmits and the modeltraining module 410 (as part of RIC near-RT 210) receives Pcell, Scellmeasurements from UEs already assigned to Scells (see block 460 of FIG.4). The Scell prediction module 420 can forward the informationreceived, for instance. Alternatively (not indicated in FIG. 6 butillustrated in FIG. 4) the RAN node may directly pass to the RIC non-RT220 the information on Pcell and Scell measurements from UEs alreadyassigned to Scells (see block 460 of FIG. 4).

The Scell measurements may be the same as Pcell measurements, buttypically only a subset of the measurements for the Scell is needed. Forexample, having just the CQI (or the CQI, PMI, RI) on the Scell maysuffice, since the primary interest is in the spectral efficiency. Wemay try to predict both the signal strength and the spectral efficiency,in which case having both RSRP and CQI on the Scell from the UEs whichhave already been assigned the Scell would be useful. In either case,the Scell measurements are typically less extensive than Pcell.

Scell measurements should indicate an identifier (e.g., cell ID orECGI—extended cell global identifier—of the Scell). This is truebecause, for a given UE, we may have measurements (e.g. CQI) on multipleScells, and we need to know which CQI is for which Scell.

The model training module 410 updates the Scell channel qualityprediction model, represented as AI/ML model 430 in FIG. 4. Thisupdating occurs in block 643. The RIC non-RT 220 (e.g., under directionof the model training module 410) provides (step 645) thetrained/updated Scell channel quality prediction model 430 to the RICnear-RT 210 and its corresponding Scell prediction module 420. Note thatthe model 430 may be defined by layer information and weights, for aneural network for instance. The Scell prediction module 420subsequently receives (and the RAN node 170 transmits) UE Pcellmeasurements in step 650. In block 655, the Scell prediction module 420performs the operation of determining the UE's Scell channel qualityprediction 435 based on the trained and updated Scell prediction model.The Scell prediction module 420 provides, in step 660, a new Scellchannel quality prediction for the UE to the RAN node 170. Based onthis, the RAN node 170 in block 665 selects an Scell and assigns theselected Scell to the UE (e.g., via signaling not shown). It is notedthat, for blocks 630 and 665, the UE is expected to use the selectedScell as a new Scell, at least generally. It is possible that some ofthe UEs will not even be able to connect to their assigned Scell,especially during the phase where the prediction's accuracy is stillbeing improved. This is, however, also useful information, where onecould infer that the achievable Scell spectral efficiency correspondingto the Pcell measurements is simply treated as zero, and it is valid touse that as part of the training input. Additionally, typically the RANnode 170 will provide the UE with info about the Scell, called “Scellconfiguration”. The UE then has to go and search/measure the Scellbefore the UE can actually connect to the Scell. If the Scell is at adifferent RAN node 170 (e.g., eNB/gNB), then X2 or Xn interfaceprocedures between the eNBs/gNBs may also be invoked.

Additional details are now provided of the data received from the RANnode 170 by the Scell prediction module. The RAN node 170 provides dataon measurements related to a given UE's channel in the Pcell, for UEsfor which an Scell selection is needed. This is used to form the UEPcell signature 426 for a particular UE. CQI (equivalently SINR orspectral efficiency) of the UE on the Pcell roughly identifies how closeto the Pcell center the UE is, and how far from the edges. Timingadvance roughly identifies the distance from the Pcell center the UE is.The direction/angle of arrival of the UE's signal at the eNB/gNB antennais indicative of direction of the UE (or direction of dominant path tothe UE) relative to the cell center. Other measures that can give anindication of the direction or angle of the UE relative to the Pcellcenter include best-beam indication and beam direction indication, in acell that employs multiple beams such as with MIMO. The PHR provides ameasure of the path loss to the UE, which is a measure of the distanceof the UE from the cell. The per-antenna signal strength (and ifavailable, phase) measurements in a MIMO Pcell further narrows down therelative spot of the UE as the signal strength or phase on differentantennas reflects the relative difference between multiple paths fromthe antennas to the UE. These measurements can be based on SRStransmissions from the UE. If available, RSRP measurements of the UE tothe Pcell, as well as to one or more intra-frequency neighbor cells ofthe Pcell, may be used as each RSRP represents a distance from thatneighbor cell, which can be effectively used to ‘triangulate’ the UE. Ifthe Pcell uses massive MIMO, “best beam” information may be used.Typically, however, Pcell will be in the low band, and so large numbersof antennas are not likely. However, in some cases, this information maybe available and also used to locate the UE.

In addition, the RAN node 170 can provide data (see block 460 of FIG. 4)on the Pcell and Scell measurements of UEs for which an Scell has beenconfigured already:

1) Pcell measurements: same as above;

2) Scell measurements: Most important is CQI, along with a rankindicator RI, as these are directly reflective of the UE's achievablespectral efficiency. Other measurements along the same lines as for thePcell may be also provided. Alternative measures may include the MCS(modulation and coding scheme) supportable for the UE, or the achievedthroughput.

Details of Scell prediction algorithm (e.g., performed by the Scellprediction module 420) and model training (e.g., performed by the modeltraining module 410) are now provided.

The Scell prediction algorithm used by the Scell prediction module 420can be implemented as a deep neural network (DNN), which is typicallydefined as a neural network (NN) with two or more hidden layers. Thefollowing description also refers to FIG. 7, which is an illustration ofan exemplary AI/ML model 430, which is a deep neural network (DNN) 730in this example, and its inputs and outputs, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment. The DNN 730 is an example of the “combined neuralnetwork” version described above. The DNN 730 has four layers 710-1through 710-4, of which layer 710-1 is an input layer with four nodes,where each node corresponds to one of the attributes 720, layers 720-2and 720-3 are hidden layers, and layer 710-4 is an output layer of twonodes for two Scells 320, Scell 1 320-1 and Scell 2 320-2.

Inputs to the neural network 730 are the UE PCell signature 426. This isa set (e.g., a vector) of attributes 720. In this example the attributes720 include the following: spectral efficiency on Pcell (based on CQI)720-1; timing advance 720-2; PHR 720-3; and angle of arrival 720-4.Reference 720-x indicates that other attributes 720 might be used, suchas RSRP, antenna phase and beam information (information), and the like.These would entail a larger vector and corresponding nodes for the layer710-1. Note that other attributes may also be used, too, rather than theattributes shown.

Outputs 740 can be the predicted achievable channel quality (e.g.,spectral efficiency or CQIs or SINRs) of the UEs on one or more Scells:

a) Either a single value of the CQI (e.g., mean or median) can beoutput;

b) Or a set of quantiles or upper and lower bounds, based on aprobabilistic estimate can be output—e.g., the neural network 730 mayoutput a mean and a measure of variation (e.g., standard deviation, or5th and 95th-percentiles) of the achievable spectral efficiency.

Note that predictions may be determined for DL channel quality and/or ULchannel quality.

In one example, the outputs 735 form the prediction 435, and all theoutputs 735 might be used, such as being sent from the RIC near-RT 210to the RAN node 170.

The neural network 730 can be trained based on the data of UE Pcellsignature 426, measured, e.g., as CQI on Scells, of UEs that havealready been assigned Scells. The model training can be performed at theRIC non-RT 220, e.g., by the model training module 410. Trained modelparameters may be provided over an A1 interface to the Scell predictionmodule 420 at the RIC near-RT. The Scell prediction module 420 uses atrained version of DNN 730.

A further possible enhancement is as follows. Rather than just using thecurrent (e.g., snapshot) of the UE Pcell signature 426, a ‘trajectoryprediction’ module can be used in the Scell prediction module 420. Asthe UE moves around, its UE Pcell signature 426 will evolve in amulti-dimensional space. This vector-time-series of the UE Pcellsignature 426 over time can be used to predict the likely evolution ofthe UE Pcell signature 426 (possibly using another neural network suchas long short-term memory, LSTM). Additionally, “bounding points” of thelikely trajectory of evolution of the UE Pcell signature 426 can then beused as inputs into the neural network 730 to predict upper and lowerbounds of the achievable spectral efficiency on one or more Scells.

As a potential enhancement, the Scell prediction module 420 may performselection of the best Scell. This has been previously described inreference to FIG. 5, but additional details are now provided withreference to FIG. 5.

The Scell prediction module 420 makes a determination of the best Scellin block 445-1, rather than just predicting the achievable spectralefficiency and letting the RAN pick the best Scell. This allows the RICnear-RT 210 to implement more sophisticated theoretically-optimalalgorithms that take both load and spectral efficiency on Pcell andScell into account. One example is given below.

The RAN's proportionally fair (PF) scheduler maximizes a log utilityfunction (sum of the log of the throughputs of all UEs). With carrieraggregation, where a UE can get throughput from multiple carrierssimultaneously, the optimal selection logic for selecting Scells for theUE is to select the Scell that maximizes the ratio of the UE's spectralefficiency on the Scell to the load (e.g. represented by the Scell's PFmetric) on the Scell. The RAN can provide an estimate of the Scell load(e.g., a PF metric or other load metric). By predicting the UE'sachievable spectral efficiency on one or more Scells, and by using anestimate of the Scell's load (or PF metric) provided by the RAN node170, the Scell prediction module 420 can select the best Scell, orgenerate a list of top-N Scells for some suitable value of N.

Benefits and Technical Effects

Without in any way limiting the scope, interpretation, or application ofthe claims appearing below, possible benefits and technical effects ofthe exemplary embodiments include the following. For operators, theexemplary embodiments provide:

Better performance, e.g., via more accurate Scell assignment withoutinter-frequency measurement overhead and better battery life; and/or

Open APIs towards the RAN node 170, which enables operators to introducethird-party optimizers that could improve the performance of any RAN,using multi-vendor-common definitions of APIs towards the RAN; and/or

Offers the potential of enhanced network performance, as well as commonbehavior across multiple vendor deployments.

For hardware providers, the exemplary embodiments provide:

In an open/multi-vendor ecosystem, enables an opportunity for thehardware provider to provide value-add differentiating optimizations toRRM algorithms such as CA Scell selection, that can be used acrossmultiple vendor RANs; and/or

In a hardware-provider-driven deployment, enables an opportunity for thehardware provider to provide some of these APIs and optimizations asproprietary extensions to a smaller set of API elements (e.g., exposeddata, control actions) that may be multi-vendor common; and/or

Thus operators can still get some level of commonality across vendors,but the hardware provider can provide further level of differentiationon top of this common set of elements on the API; and/or

With non-XRAN/ORAN operators, can be a value-added proposition by thehardware provider.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one ormore or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations inonly analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (asapplicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardwarecircuit(s) with software/firmware and (ii) any portions of hardwareprocessor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)),software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, suchas a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s)or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g.,firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it isnot needed for operation.”

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in thisapplication, including in any claims. As a further example, as used inthis application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation ofmerely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) orportion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their)accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers,for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, abaseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobiledevice or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular networkdevice, or other computing or network device.

Embodiments herein may be implemented in software (executed by one ormore processors), hardware (e.g., an application specific integratedcircuit), or a combination of software and hardware. In an exampleembodiment, the software (e.g., application logic, an instruction set)is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readablemedia. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” maybe any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate ortransport the instructions for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer,with one example of a computer described and depicted, e.g., in FIG. 1A.A computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storagemedium (e.g., memories 125, 155, 171 or other device) that may be anymedia or means that can contain, store, and/or transport theinstructions for use by or in connection with an instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device, such as a computer. A computer-readablestorage medium does not comprise propagating signals.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed ina different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, ifdesired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional ormay be combined.

Although various aspects are set out above, other aspects comprise othercombinations of features from the described embodiments, and not solelythe combinations described above.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exampleembodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed ina limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modificationswhich may be made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: forming userequipment-related measurements taken on a primary cell in a wirelesscommunication system into a set of data, wherein the primary cell alsooverlaps with one or more secondary cells in the wireless communicationsystem and wherein the user equipment-related measurements on theprimary cell are for a specific user equipment in the primary cell;predicting, using a machine learning algorithm applied to the set ofdata, achievable channel quality for the specific user equipment foreach of the one or more of the secondary cells; and outputting at leastone of the predicted achievable channel qualities for the specific userequipment to be used for secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the outputting comprisesoutputting the predicted achievable channel qualities toward a radioaccess network node that forms the primary cell.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising: selecting, based on the output at least one ofthe predicted achievable channel qualities for the specific userequipment, at least one secondary cell from the one or more secondarycells to be used for secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment; and sending indication of the at least one selected celltoward a radio access network node that forms the primary cell.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user equipment-related measurements takenon the primary cell comprise one or both of user equipment-relatedmeasurements taken by the primary cell for the specific user equipmentor user equipment-related measurements taken on the primary cell by thespecific user equipment.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the userequipment-related measurements taken by the primary cell comprise one ormore of the following for the specific user equipment: timing advance;angle of arrival; signal strength measurements, per-antenna signalstrength measurements, per-antenna phase measurements, and/orbeam-related measurements.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the userequipment-related measurements taken by the specific user equipmentcomprise one or more of the following for the specific user equipment:channel quality indicator; signal to interference plus noise ratio;spectral efficiency; power headroom report; beam-related measurements;and/or reference signal received power.
 7. The method of claim 1,performed by a first network node, wherein: the user equipment-relatedmeasurements for the primary cell further comprise userequipment-related measurements taken by the primary cell for one or moreother user equipment and user equipment-related measurements for theprimary cell taken on the primary cell by the one or more other userequipment; the user equipment-related measurements for the primary cellfurther comprise user equipment-related measurements for the primarycell for one or more additional user equipment already assigned to atleast one of the one or more secondary cells that overlap with theprimary cell and user equipment-related measurements for the primarycell taken by the primary cell for the additional one or more other userequipment; the method further comprises forming the userequipment-related measurements for the primary cell into multipleversions of the set of data; the method further comprises determining,from the user equipment-related measurements for the primary cell, oneor more measurements of channel quality corresponding to one or more ofthe secondary cells, each of the one or more measurements of channelquality corresponding to individual versions of set of data; and themethod further comprises sending the multiple versions of the set ofdata and the corresponding one or more measurements of channel qualitytoward a model training module, for use by the model training module intraining the machine-learning algorithm.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein forming further comprises forming each set of data by applying afunction to the user equipment-related measurements for the primary cellto create the corresponding set of data.
 9. A method, comprising:forming, at a radio access network node, user equipment-relatedmeasurements taken on a primary cell in a wireless communication systeminto a set of data, wherein the primary cell also overlaps with one ormore secondary cells in the wireless communication system, wherein theuser equipment-related measurements are for a specific user equipment inthe primary cell, and wherein the primary cell is formed by the radioaccess network node; sending the set of data toward a secondary cellprediction module for the secondary cell module to determine informationsuitable to enable secondary cell selection for the specific userequipment; receiving the information from the secondary cell predictionmodule, the information further allowing the radio access network nodeto inform the selected user equipment of selected at least one of theone or more secondary cells to be used for secondary cell selection forthe specific user equipment; and sending by the radio access networknode indication of the at least one selected secondary cell toward thespecific user equipment.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theinformation comprises information for a selected one of the one or moresecondary cells or a selected N of the secondary cells, where N is aninteger greater than one, and sending comprises sending by the radioaccess network node indication of the selected secondary cell or theselected N secondary cells toward the specific user equipment.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein: the information comprises a prediction fromthe secondary cell prediction module of achievable channel quality forthe specific user equipment for at least one of the one or more of thesecondary cells, the prediction comprising predicted achievable channelqualities for the specific user equipment based on the sent userequipment-related measurements in the set of data; the method furthercomprises selecting, based on the prediction and one or more additionalfactors, the at least one secondary cell to be used for the secondarycell selection for the specific user equipment.
 12. The method of claim9, wherein: the radio access network node comprises the secondary cellprediction module; and sending the set of data toward the secondary cellprediction module further comprises sending the user equipment-relatedmeasurements from first functionality in the radio access network nodetoward the secondary cell prediction module in the radio access networknode.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein: the secondary cell predictionmodule is in an other network node separate and different from the radioaccess network node; and sending the set of data toward the secondarycell prediction module further comprises sending by the radio accessnetwork node the user equipment-related measurements from the radioaccess network node toward the other network node.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the user equipment-related measurements taken on theprimary cell comprise one or both of user equipment-related measurementstaken by the primary cell for the specific user equipment or userequipment-related measurements taken on the primary cell by the specificuser equipment.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the userequipment-related measurements taken by the primary cell comprise one ormore of the following for the specific user equipment: timing advance;angle of arrival; signal strength measurements, per-antenna signalstrength measurements, per-antenna phase measurements, and/orbeam-related measurements for a case where primary cell has multiplebeams in a massive multiple input, multiple output system.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the user equipment-related measurementstaken by the specific user equipment comprise one or more of thefollowing for the specific user equipment: channel quality indicator;signal to interference plus noise ratio; spectral efficiency; powerheadroom report; beam-related measurements; and/or reference signalreceived power.
 17. The method of claim 9, wherein the secondary cellprediction module uses a machine learning algorithm, and wherein themethod further comprises: taking by the radio access network node theuser equipment-related measurements for the primary cell for one or moreother user equipment; receiving by the radio access network node userequipment-related measurements for the primary cell taken on the primarycell by the one or more other user equipment; receiving by the radioaccess network node feedback from one or more additional user equipmentalready assigned to at least one of the one or more secondary cells thatoverlap with the primary cell, the feedback comprising userequipment-related measurements for the primary cell for the one or moreadditional user equipment; and taking by the radio access network nodethe user equipment-related measurements for the primary cell for theadditional one or more other user equipment; forming the userequipment-related measurements for the primary cell into multipleversions of the set of data; determining, from the userequipment-related measurements for the primary cell, one or moremeasurements of channel quality corresponding to one or more of thesecondary cells, each of the one or more measurements of channel qualitycorresponding to individual versions of set of data; and sending themultiple versions of the set of data and the corresponding one or moremeasurements of channel quality toward a model training module, for useby the model training module in training the machine-learning algorithm.18. The method of claim 1, wherein a connection of the specific userequipment to a secondary cell may be either by carrier aggregation ordual connectivity.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein a secondary cellmay be at a same radio access network node as the primary cell, or be ata different radio access network node as the primary cell.
 20. A method,comprising: receiving multiple sets of data, the multiple sets of datacomprising user equipment-related measurements taken on a primary cellin a wireless communication system and corresponding measurements ofchannel quality for one or more secondary cells, wherein the primarycell overlaps with the one or more secondary cells in the wirelesscommunication system and wherein the user equipment-related measurementsof the primary cell are for user equipment in the primary cell;performing training of a machine learning algorithm at least by applyingthe multiple sets of data to the machine learning algorithm, wherein themachine learning algorithm is configured to output a prediction ofachievable channel quality for each of the one or more secondary cells;and outputting, in response to training being completed on themachine-learning algorithm, information defining the trainedmachine-learning algorithm.